BRONE DUBAR

2020. LEARN REAL HISTORY OF WORLD BODYBUILDING.

BRONE DUBAR

BRONE DUBAR (Broné “Brownie” Dubar, Daubaraite, 1906-1986) together with her parents and four brothers emigrated from Lithuania to the US in 1912. Coming from a family of athletes and thinkers, she believed in the importance of an educated mind and a healthy body. Her brothers were all accomplished athletes, playing in amateur as well as in  professional areas of sport: Boxing, Hockey, Skating and Baseball.  Chess and books were always a steady diet in the DUBAR  household. BRONE DUBAR found swimming and diving to be a natural fit for her and participated in events during high school. Though there were no fitness sport and fitness contests at that time today sport specialists say that BRONE DUBAR was the first fitness athlete in the history. At a time when sport of fitness for women was not common and the first women's Olympics had only been sanctioned in 1920, she would compete or perform whenever she could. This was the reason that fitness performances of BRONE DUBAR were not accepted as sport at that time. By the 1920's BRONE DUBAR was touring and working as an acrobatic and gymnastic dancer. She also promoted women's health and fitness by traveling and putting on one woman and small athletic demonstrations. As a show woman, she considered the impacts of her demonstrations and how to grab the audience's attention, including adding stunts to her repertoire. Show programs of BRONE DUBAR were original. At one demonstration, hosted at a local YMCA, she jumped from a second story balcony above the crowd and dove headlong into a small lap pool as part of her demonstration. BRONE DUBAR incorporated fitness into her acts of performance and frequently headlined as an acrobatic and gymnastic dancer.  She often incorporated physical movement familiar to modern viewers as yoga and calisthenics along with examples of natural body strength movement.  BRONE’S DUBAR demonstration bookings took her to all corners of the US. From New York to Seattle and from Ohio to California and many places between.  Remember that all World bodybuilding pioneers did the same – they traveled in the countries to perform their power programs in public. Most World’s known bodybuilding pioneers did this. In America that were LOUIS CYR (1863-1912 m.) and CHARLES ATLAS (Angelo Siciliano, 1893-1972 m.). BRONE DUBAR primarily was involved in athletic demonstrations from a few years before the 1920's through the 1930's until the war changed the entertainment industry and doomed traveling shows to history. Today many local newspaper archives in the US from the time contain ads for her acts as well as her demonstrations as evidence of her activities.

A very classy woman, BRONE DUBAR learned to be a seamstress when she was young and always dressed immaculately as a result and would sew the latest fashions for herself. Even in advanced age, she looked like she just stepped off the pages of Vogue Magazine.

BRONE DUBAR was not only a woman before her time, but if her history is known and shared, should inspire young woman to seek and excel at athletics and fitness. She has inspired more than one generation in her own family to follow into the World of athletics on both sides of the Atlantic.